


Birds

by Alargebee



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Blended family, Divorce, Eating Disorders, Fluff and Angst, Fuck JKR, M/M, Old Work, google translate, mention of 13 reasons why before it was a tv show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:21:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alargebee/pseuds/Alargebee
Summary: When Toris, a muggle born, gets chosen to attend Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he falls into the company of Feliks Łukasiewicz, a polish wizard from a family of professional Quidditch players. With him, he navigates the wizarding world, and discovers both the intricacies of the world he is a part of, but also his own feelings as well.
Relationships: Lithuania/Poland (Hetalia), others are hinted at but not explicitly explored
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 2015 for NaNoWriMo, and hasn't been edited since 2016. I may continue it, but I don't know at this point, but I felt the bulk of it still holds up so I'm publishing it now. First, JKR is transphobic and I think she's doing real harm right now. Second, I personally feel that fanficiton is a way to still enjoy Harry Potter content without supporting her financially and contributing to her spreading misinformation about trans people and terf stuff. On a lighter note, this is an old piece of fanfiction that I wrote when I was a kid, so there will be stuff that I refer to that will not be handled with as much care as it should be. Also, I had just read 13 Reasons Why, which at that point was still a book and in my memory was not nearly as yikes as it is today. The google translate is bad, in case you were wondering. Mostly this was a self indulgent Harry Potter au with Poland and Lithuania as the focus. Don't take any of this too seriously, I suppose.

Toris glanced warily around the train corridor- if it was anything like the rest of the magical world, there was probably a thousand porcupines in the compartments ahead of him. He sighed.

Being a the first wizard in his muggle family, Toris was the guinea pig- his younger brothers both showed signs of magical ability, but Eduard and Raivis were ten and nine, too young to attend Hogwarts.

He found that the train rocked much less than a regular muggle train, and began walking forward, looking for an empty compartment. But they were all mostly filled. Through the blurred glass, he could see a messy brown-haired boy gesticulating animatedly, his voice muffled, to someone with longish blond hair sitting opposite him. In another, a whole group of oriental children were clustered, but as one with long hair stood and made for the door, Toris hurried on.

He had been wandering the corridor for a while when a girl with short blond hair almost collided with him. 

“I-I’m sorry, I-” He stuttered, stumbling back. The girl seemed equally apologetic, and seemed flustered for a few seconds before gaining her composure and putting her hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine!”

She looked at his face for a moment, taking in his bright green eyes, shoulder length brown hair and pale skin, now flushed. Then she smiled.

“Oh, you’re a first year! I understand, being on this train for the first time can be overwhelming.”

Toris nodded gratefully, and she took her hand off his shoulder.

“I’m Yekaterina Braginsky, Hufflepuff prefect! I just left my sister in a compartment, she’s a first year too. Unless you have someone else you’d like to sit with?”

Toris immediately shook his head. “I-I’d love that.”

He followed her down the corridor, trying to keep up with all she was saying. She was just finishing a sentence about how the Ravenclaw prefect Yao hadn’t come to the prefect’s compartment first, “He’s got so many siblings, and his brother Li Xiao’s new, so it makes sense, but he  _ really  _ ought to fulfill his duties first- ah, here we are!”

She pushed open the sliding door to a compartment near the front of the train, which was alone save for a girl in robes with her knees pulled to her chest and a book pressed against them. She had long, silvery blond hair and dark blue eyes that were rapidly darting across the pages.

“Natalya! Where’s Ivan?” Yekaterina asked.

The girl raised her eyes. “He went to see Alfred and Arthur up near the front.” Her eyes found Toris’s. “Who’s he?”

It was less of a question and more of a demand, and Toris immediately retracted within himself.

Yekaterina glared at her sister. “This is Toris. He’s a first year, like you, and he doesn’t have a compartment. I told him he can stay here.” She pushed Toris inside, flashed them both her smile, muttered something about prefects, and closed the door.

After a few seconds, Natalya spoke up. “Sit down.”

Toris blinked. “S-sorry?”

She rolled her eyes and put her book down. “Sit. I won’t bite you, though I wouldn’t say the same for Ivan…”

Toris obeyed quietly, still looking at the girl. She has sharp features and an air of elegance and royalty. She regarded him indifferently, and then she sighed impatiently.

“She wants me to make friends, sorry about this. I know you probably have someone up the train, so you can leave whenever you like. I’ll tell her your friend saw you or something...

“I-I actually don’t know anyone. I’m muggle-born.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Really? So you don’t have anyone to show up while you’re here.” Seeing his confused expression, she said “I’m pure-blood and I have two older siblings, both are great in their own right.”

“I’ve got two younger brothers, Eduard and Raivis.” Toris said.

She dropped her knees to the seat and her feet to the floor. “What’s it like? Being the oldest?”

Toris leaned back in his seat. “I’m not that much older. But I have kind of a barrier between me and them. They’re both my half-brothers, my mom never married my dad. They are much closer to each other than to me, but I don’t mind it all that much. I read a lot.”

Natalya looked vaguely confused. “You mean they don’t boss you around?” When Toris shook his head, she whistled. “Wow. Well, Yekaterina is fifteen and Ivan- he’s my brother- is thirteen. They’re  _ always _ bossing me around. Oh, and I read too.”

She grabbed the book that was on the seat next to her and held it up so he could see. Toris looked puzzled and read the title aloud. “13 Prichin Pochemu?”

She flipped it around to glance at the cover, where the characters were written, 13 причин почему. Then she slowly nodded.

“You speak russian?”

Toris shrugged, turning slightly pink. “Only a little, my family’s from Lithuania…”

She nodded, looking impressed. “You speak Lithuanian too?”

He tilted his head. “More than russian,” Glancing at the cover again, he continued. “I’ve seen that book before, when I go there on holiday every year. But I thought it wasn’t allowed because of the theme.”

Natalya smirked. “I don’t care.” Then, more quietly and seriously, “I can relate to her, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Toris questioned, looking slightly alarmed. From all he knew about the book, it centered around a girl’s suicide tapes.

She shook her head. “Nothing like that. Anyway,” She said, carefully placing the book- Toris could see little notes scribbled on some of the pages that looked like translations- on the seat beside her and standing up, stretching. “What house do you suppose you’ll be in?” At Toris’s confused expression, she elaborated what he didn't already know.

“I’d probably be in Hufflepuff, I don’t really fit in anywhere else.” He muttered afterward. Natalya snorted. “Hufflepuff isn’t a house for misfits like everyone thinks. It’s actually a pretty nice house to be in.” She sat down again. “I’ll probably end up in Slytherin, like Ivan. ‘Course I’d love to be in Gryffindor, but I’d never make it…”

Toris tilted his head. “Why?” He didn’t see why she couldn’t be a Gryffindor- she was pretty brave, from what he’d seen so far- opening up to him like that.

“Well, for one thing- I’m not the nicest person.” She muttered darkly, pulling her knees up to her chest again. “Also- to be in Gryffindor, you’ve gotta be brave almost to the point where it’s annoying. That's not me."

He shrugged. "If they're annoying, why would you want to be there?"

She gave him a nasty smile.

"Everyone loves Gryffindor. They're always treated specially and the teachers adore them. It's sickening." She shook her head slightly. "Nobody's ever really cared about me. No, not really. Ivan has always had his friends and Yekaterina has too. I'm alone. Maybe, if I was in Gryffindor, someone would finally love me."

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sorting ceremony, in which Toris meets Feliks for the first time.

The soaking wet and anxious first years stood quietly whispering to each other as they waited for the teacher to appear with the sorting hat. Toris was especially worried- Natalya had gone up to the front of the crowd, her last name being Braginsky. Around him, he saw a boy with Ashy-blond hair muttering under his breath, an asian boy with a short ponytail looking bored as he pulled a phone out of his robes, and a dark skinned girl with long brown hair that was tied up in ribbons glancing around the hall excitedly as If looking for someone. If he stood on his tiptoes, Toris could see the four tables over the other student’s heads. There were two vividly blond students sitting at adjacent tables, arguing fervently, and a pair of twins at the Gryffindor table whispering to each other.

Just then a teacher came down from the high table carrying an old and battered hat.

“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," said the teacher, holding a long list of names. 

“ Bondevik-Steillson, Emil!”

Toris glimpsed the boy with the ashy-blond hair approaching the hat slowly, appearing in every way calm. But just as he got up on the stool, Toris realised how tightly he had been clenching his fists.

The hat sat on his pale head for a few moments, before opening it’s brim which, presumably, the song from earlier had been (Toris had been trying to shake the worst of the water from the storm off in the great hall) and shouting “RAVENCLAW!” to the whole room.

Emil looked slightly relieved as the hat was pulled off and he joined the blue-and-bronze table, where a group of other northern looking students from various houses were congregated the best they could be (Two Hufflepuffs and a Gryffindor stood up from across the hall, two of them yelling, and a Slytherin patted the boy on his head).

At “Braginsky, Natalya!” Toris got on his tiptoes again and watched his friend walk slowly and deliberately up to the stool, and as the hat dropped onto her head he saw her wipe her nose on the back of her hand. The hat waited merely seconds this time before exclaiming “SLYTHERIN!” to the hall, and cheers came from the table of green-clad students (The blond kid stopped arguing briefly to applaud). A tall boy with hair almost as light as hers waved her over, whom Toris assumed could only be Ivan. He saw Natalya flash him a glance, and in that second, he felt Ivan’s eyes burning into him.

He decided at that moment that Ivan was not one to be crossed.

The group of first years gradually began to thin, and Toris grew apprehensive as “Kirkland, Li Xiao” was made a Gryffindor (The teacher had to wait several minutes for the yelling and cheering to calm down) before he heard the inevitable “Lorinaitis, Toris!”

He slowly approached the stool, feeling the eyes of a hundred students on his back and he had to stop himself from unconsciously running a hand through his hair. The two-foot stool seemed even harder to climb up onto then the steps to the castle were, and he was almost relieved when the hat dropped over his eyes and he could no longer see the hall.

_ “Ah, you’re something,”  _ muttered a small voice inside his ear. Toris was immediately surprised and scared that everyone could hear this, but he quickly remembered the other kid’s trials.

_ Not Gryffindor, please. Not like I have that much courage anyway. _ Toris desperately thought.  _ “Not Gryffindor? Oh, I see, it’s because of that Braginsky girl. She’ll do well in Slytherin, mind you. You’d do well in Gryffindor, but there are other places… Hm… Well, I don’t see why you can’t be...  _ RAVENCLAW!” The hat roared. The teacher pulled it off his head and Toris moved sheepishly to sit beside the long-haired oriental boy he had seen on the train.

"I'm Wang Yao, Ravenclaw prefect! Welcome, aru!" He shouted above the din.

After it had quieted down significantly, the teacher glanced down at the paper. It took several seconds more for him to read the name.

“F-Felikus Lukasywitchz?”

As he said this, Toris saw a kid with blond hair raise his hand into the air.

“It’s pronounced ‘Fe-lix Wook-a-shay-veech’. It’s a dark L.” he said clearly. Toris could see that he was small. Not just small, but  _ tiny _ . Standing next to him, he might be four inches taller.

The boy had longish blond hair similar in style to his own and heavy-lidded green eyes, and his was full of emotional turmoil. He looked upset, but confused, but anxious, but annoyed all at the same time. The teacher eventually recovered enough to mumble out something that resembled the boy’s name, and he walked, ears pink, to the stool.

The hat sat on is head for a few moments, longer than anyone so far, before seemingly giving up. “RAVENCLAW!” It exclaimed, in what appeared to be defeat.

The cheering was slightly subdued at this point due to the interruption of the normal ceremony, but as the boy came to sit in the closest available seat at the Ravenclaw table (next to Toris) “Mancham, Michelle” was made a Hufflepuff and the hall filled with noise again.

After the sorting had ended with “Zwingli, Vash” (A Ravenclaw) and everyone turned to eat, except for Toris. He turned to the kid beside him and began to question.

“Why did you correct them like that?”

The kid looked up with his mouth full of potatoes and slowly swallowed. “I didn’t want them to, like, get my name wrong. It’s a Dark L, or a stroked one.  _ Ł.” _ he emphasised, tracing the character in his mashed potatoes.

“Wow,” Toris breathed, leaning back a little. Then, the kid gave him a goofy smile.

“‘Course i’m also, like, an idiot, so that’s probably why.” He glanced inside of Toris’s glass and adjusted his hair. “By the way, I’m Feliks Łukasiewicz. Spelled F-E-L-I-K-S  _ DARK Ł- _ U-K-A-S-I-E-W-I-C-Z.” 

Toris found himself laughing. “Toris Lorinaitis. Spelled T-O-R-I-S  _ Normal L _ -O-R-I-N-A-I-T-I-S.” 

They talked all evening.

“Okay, so, like, my best friend Feliciano- He’s a Vargas, famous italian wizards whose family invented replenishing cauldrons- is like a year older than me, so he got put in Hufflepuff with his older brother- third year, he’s a rotten bastard, really rude- we rode on the train together, he’s obsessed with this german dude, Ludwig- Beilschmidt, those are those germans that arranged Hitler’s defeat as well as made a ton of banks and standardized the Galleon, Slytherin, second year, his older brother Gilbert’s a real son of a bitch, we picked fights all the time when they used to meet up at our parties- and that’s all he ever talks about. If you’re from a pure-blood family that did something or other that was super famous or whatever you absolutely  _ have _ to rub elbows with all these others, it doesn’t really help, we all end up just getting annoyed with each other or really uncomfortable- this steak is  _ good. _ ” Feliks rambled out very fast while eating, hardly stopping. In turn, Toris told him all about the muggle world where he grew up, his brothers, and briefly about Natalya and Ivan.

“Oh, I’ve met them before. They haven’t gotten along with us or the Beilschmidts very well since the 14th century, when their kids got in a fight over who got to marry ours or something, I don’t know. They’re fairly middle class for our kind of family, to be honest. But it’s not my fault my family is full of really good Quidditch players.”

After this Feliks launched into a lengthy discussion about Quidditch and all the world cup’s he’d been too because of his relatives playing in them. Toris drank in every word until the plates finally cleared- “Oh come on, I didn’t, like, even get to try the Mousse”- and they all had to get up and go to bed. Yao and a girl with long brown hair and sparkling green eyes who introduced herself as Elizabeta Hedérvary led them up the long walk to the Ravenclaw tower. After a little bit of clever guessing, one of the new first years got the password/riddle right and they all stumbled into the large common room.

Feliks and Toris followed Emil and Vash past the statue of a woman (Rowena Ravenclaw, Yao said as he pointed the other students up the stairway) to their room, a round room not unlike a library with large alcoves in the walls neatly filled with blankets to serve as beds. Vash and Emil to the one nearest to the windows, leaving Toris to watch Feliks scramble up to the top bunk of theirs. They all got dressed and ready quietly, Emil letting his bird free into the room. On Feliks’s curious inquiry as to why it wasn’t up in the Owlrey, Emil muttered something about Puffins not being classified as owls even though they were pretty much the same, thank you very much. After they all finished, the four new Ravenclaws sat in a circle on the blue-carpeted floor, Feliks procuring a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and poured it out onto the ground.

“I’m a half-blood, Wizard on my dad’s, muggle on my Mum’s.” Emil said, pulling a bag of dried fish from his trunk and giving one to his puffin. “My whole family’s here already, spread out around houses. I’m the first Ravenclaw though.” Toris remembered the screaming kids he had seen at the sorting ceremony and the Slytherin that had patted him on the back.

“Well, I’m muggle-born, and I’ve got a younger sister who’ll be here in two years. Her name is Lily." Vash stated proudly, sitting up straighter. "Come to think of it, I was gonna send her an owl to let her know I got into Ravenclaw... I wonder if I could still get up there tonight, but I don't know the way up there..."

Feliks tilted his head. "They're all supposed to fly in breakfast or something, Feli told me last year."

"What's your family like, Feliks?" Emil asked, stroking his bird.

Feliks sat back. "Oh, we're all Quidditch players. 'You heard of Joséf Wronski? Most famous Seeker, like, ever? He's like my cousin or something."

"I didn't know anything about Quidditch until yesterday." Said Toris, reaching for one of the beans (and promptly spitting it back out). Vash shrugged.

"I did some research when I went to Diagon Alley, you know, when I got my wand. I don't think I'd fly very well, honestly. Like both of my feet on the ground."

"Look at this! It's twelve inches, Cherry with a Unicorn hair core. And I got the wandmaker to do some designs for me, because he's a family friend." Feliks held his wand up for everyone to see.

"Mine's thirteen inches, ash, with dragon heartstring. My older brother got one almost exactly like this." Emil said, showing them his. Vash's was thirteen inches with dragon heartstring and was made of oak, whereas Toris's was twelve inches and distinguishable from Feliks's only by the lack of designs and the wood type (willow).

It took them all a rather long time to finish off the beans and then they all bid each other goodnight and went to bed, Emil's puffin cuddling on his pillow. Toris was incredibly tired, but he felt almost delirious with excitement. Tomorrow he was going to start his lessons, and take a leap into their new, magical world.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is particularly funny in retrospect. Cringe culture is dead, but I did not understand language and I am conscious of that.


	3. Chapter 3

“Flying lessons? Already?” Feliks muttered through a mouthful of toast. School had been going on for a week, and Toris and Feliks were inseparable. Not like Toris had tried to shake the blond boy- on the contrary, even though Feliks could be incredibly annoying, Toris was fascinated by him- he seemed to always have energy, and was always talking. Of course, Toris had never really had any friends before, and he knew Feliks probably had a ton of friends he would rather be with, but he was determined to be a good enough friend for Feliks to remember him.

“Is flying fun?” Toris asked, cutting up his eggs. He loved to hear Feliks talk.

Feliks looked at him like he was crazy.

“Of  _ course _ it is! You kick off the ground and fly up into the air, the wind rushes all around you and, like, whips your hair around, and you feel so  _ free _ , and nobody can judge you because you’re so far up! It’s amazing.” He smiled so wide he had to close his eyes. Then, his smile faded. “Of course, we won’t be able to join the Quidditch team. First years aren’t allowed, haven’t been since the nineties.”

“But won’t flying be enough?” Toris asked, glancing down the table to Yao and Elizabeta, who were passing out flight class times to the first years. Vash was studying his furiously, and Emil was being lectured by students from three different houses on flight methods.

Feliks nodded, taking a schedule from Elizabeta as she passed. “Yeah, but I’d love to play Chaser. Oh, look at this!” He said, glancing at the schedule Yao had just handed Toris. “We have practice at the same time! This is gonna be awesome! Right after Herbology, I never really liked that class, I would rather be doing Care of Magical Creatures. Eh.” He got up from the table, stretching. “Let’s get to Herbology early, then maybe we can get down to the pitch.”

Toris stood up eagerly and followed Feliks down the length of the table and started out for the doors of the castle. Everything was going great.

Until Toris crashed into a Slytherin head on and dropped all of his stuff.

“I’m so sorry! I really am! I…” he trailed off as he saw who it was.

It was Ivan. The big, tall, and thoroughly russian looking brother of Natalya and Yekaterina. And he looked upset.

But it was very brief. His anger soon melted into a childlike smile, but Toris could tell that he was still angry. 

“Aww, a small first year! You are quite cute, you have such big eyes! Maybe you could use them  _ to see where you’re going?” _

“Leave him alone, Ivan! Can’t you see they’re new?” Said a strange voice from up the hall a little ways. Toris looked up to see a Gryffindor with square glasses and short blond hair that curled a little at his forehead striding up the hall. Behind him, a slightly taller boy with slightly longer hair and darker eyes followed him, muttering things like ‘Shut up,’ and a bit of something that sounded like french. The boy with the strange accent came up to the slightly taller Ivan and poked him in the chest. “Pick on someone your own size!”

Toris realized the accent- it was american, but by the sound of it, this kid had been in England long enough to be slightly influenced by it.

Ivan turned his full attention to the boy and looked at him with the same childish smile, his anger intensifying enough to roll off him in waves. Feliks dropped to his knees and put his hand on Toris’s shoulder, as if protecting him, even though Toris could feel him shaking. 

“Alfred.”

The two boys looked so ready to kill each other that Toris felt like he was going to cry. Then, the tense silence was broken.

“You’re Ravenclaws, right? We have dual Herbology. Come on.” A girl with long, pale blond hair pushed her way through them and grabbed Toris’s arm and pulling him to his feet. Feliks made a noise of protest but she hooked her arm around his as well and yanked him to the door.

As soon as Toris gained his feet, he glanced at the girl, and his jaw dropped.

“ _ Natalya?” _

Natalya gave him a dark smile. “Shut up, my brother and Jones are gonna beat each other to a pulp if you interrupt them.”

Once they were safely halfway to the greenhouses, Natalya released a sputtering Feliks, whose face was glowing pink and hands were shaking. He turned to Toris, looking utterly defeated, and Toris was surprised. What was wrong with Feliks? He was usually so full of life and loud- but the appearance of Natalya had shut him down.

“Natalya, this is Feliks. Feliks Łukasiewicz. Feliks, this is Natalya Braginsky. I met her on the train.”

Natalya crossed her arms at the mention of Feliks’s last name. “Oh. It’s you.”

Feliks stood up straighter and looked defiant. “Yeah. Are you gonna be a jerk about it like every member of your family?”

Natalya rolled her eyes. “I’m not that stupid. Ivan’s a bastard, but I don’t give a damn about my family.”

Both of the boys were a little stunned at her use of swears, but it seemed to help Feliks pull himself together, muttering ‘sorry’ to Toris. Satisfied that she had solved the problem, Natalya began pushing forward and walking to the greenhouse. Toris looked puzzled.

“Natalya! Wait!”

She stopped and turned around, her hair whipping around her and making her appear sharper and more dangerous looking.

“D-Do you want to walk with us? It’s not like we have much else to do.”

From that moment on, Natalya became part of their small group. She wasn’t as close as Feliks and Toris were, but they got along well enough.

That was when the problems began.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Feliks and Toris split up with Natalya after Herbology and walked slowly down to the Quidditch pitch, where they would be learning to fly that day (in Toris's case, as Feliks had practically been raised on a broomstick.) Although Feliks had warmed up to Natalya's company slightly, his mood seemed considerably brighter when they were alone, and he began to hum and skip a little. Even though Toris enjoyed being around Natalya, he liked being alone with Feliks more, especially if he was his normal, cheery self.

"Hey, Toris?" Feliks asked, hopping up on a log and walking with his arms out across it. At this height, he just stood above Toris's head.

"Hm?" Toris replied, glancing up at him.

"D'you think I should get my hair cut? It's a bit long, and I don't want anyone to start te- I mean, thinking I'm a girl or something."

Toris looked startled. He'd gotten used to Feliks with longish hair, and he never thought he was girly. His hand suddenly shot to his own hair. Would Feliks not want to hang out with him because he was afraid people would tease him if he hung out with Toris?

"W-well, do you like your hair long?"

Feliks glanced at him. "Yeah, I guess. But it's a pain when I'm flying. Oh!" He jumped down from the log and pulled something out of his school bag. "Hold still."

He went up very close to Toris and stood on his tiptoes, running his hands through Toris's hair, and Toris felt his heart skip a beat. Then, he felt his hair tighten slightly, as if it was being pulled, and then Feliks let go and stood back.

"There! Your hair kind of falls in your eyes, and that's not good if you're flying. Oh my gosh, you're adorable! Look!" Feliks grabbed a mirror from inside his bag to show Toris.

Toris gasped at his reflection. He looked older, boyish, and- in his opinion- kind of cute. It was almost an effort to hand the mirror back to Feliks, who was putting up his own hair. As he turned to thank Feliks, his breath hitched. Feliks looked slightly taller like this- he couldn't even begin to wonder how- but he looked larger. More confident.

"Uh, Toris? You okay?" Feliks asked, waving his hand in front of the boy's face. Toris started.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

Feliks twirled in a circle, his robe billowing out slightly. “Am I cute yet?”

Toris laughed. “Yes.”

They arrived at the the field, where the rest of the new students in their were waiting. Vash was looking at his broom with almost a bored look, and Emil was muttering under his breath. A Hufflepuff girl whom Toris recognised from the sorting ceremony was standing expectantly near her broom, her hair swirling in the wind. Yao’s younger brother, Li Xiao (As he had come to know one night in the common room when a first year girl had been confused as to which brother Yao meant when he said “My brother”) was looking at Emil with amusement, but he quickly looked away when Emil glanced up. Feliks groaned.

“How much longer do we have to  _ wait?” _

Not very long, as a professor came out from the broomshed about ten seconds later holding a stack of black robes.

“Listen up! Flying may sound fun, but it’s not something to be taken lightly! So, we’re going to start with a few things. First, you’ll have to change into these uniforms, as regular robes restrict your flight. I ex- Yes, Mister, uh-”

“Łukasiewicz, sir. I already bought flying robes of my own, can I use them?”

The professor scowled. “Young man, I have specific instructions to only let students use school-approved robes-”

“They’re Polish national standard practice, I got them from my cousin.” Feliks said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a set of black robes with a small polish flag and the words  _ Rzeczpospolita Polska _ embroidered in gold on the sleeve. He shook them out and held out the back for the professor to see.

A collective gasp went around the pure-blooded wizards present. Toris glanced around them and could see why. Embroidered in the same gold lettering was the word  _ Wronski _ .

“H-How… Did you say ‘Łukasiewicz’? As in the-”

“The best Quidditch family in Europe? Yes. When Joséf was eight he outgrew these so I got to have them last year for my eleventh birthday.” Feliks said, ears pink with embarrassment. Toris could tell that even though he seemed confident, he was very nervous at standing up to a teacher. 

The professor relented, seeing as the robes were from Joséf Wronski himself, and began to distribute the rest among the students. The boys went around to the changing rooms, and as Toris was taking off his robes to change, he caught a glimpse of Feliks in the mirror, and he was shocked. Feliks was  _ tiny. _ He was even smaller than he originally had thought. His shoulders were weak looking, and Toris could count his ribs. But suddenly, Feliks caught his eye in the mirror, and Toris returned to putting on his robes.

After they left the room, Feliks made no move to question Toris about what he had seen, but the look he gave him was one of pure ice. Toris didn’t dare speak of it.

“Alright! We’re going to go slowly. After you get your broom into your hand, take off and circle no more than  _ ten feet _ and then come down.”

Toris stood over his broom, unsure of what he was going to do, until Feliks put a hand on his shoulder, and looked down to his broom. 

“UP!” He shouted, and to Toris’s astonishment, the broom jumped into his hand. He looked at Toris encouragingly, and Toris positioned his own hand over the broom.

“UP!” It took a few tries, but the broom jumped to his hand. Then, Feliks showed him how to get on the broom, and whispered “Together.”

Unconsciously, Toris kicked up off the ground with Feliks and soared into the sky.

The sensation was as if Toris had just pulled his head out of a tub of water. The wind suddenly killed all other sounds, and he felt so awake and alive. He could hear Feliks whooping next to him, and he looked up. 

“I’m doing it!” He cried, making eye contact with his grinning friend. “I’m flying!”

Feliks flashed him a look that meant something like ‘I told you so’ and Toris smiled brightly. The feeling was amazing.

But for some reason, experiencing it with Feliks made it better than he could have ever imagined.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

The weeks flew past, and soon, the Christmas holidays were just around the corner. Toris was now so in love with flying it was nothing short of addiction, often waking Feliks up early on Saturdays to watch the Ravenclaw or the Slytherin Quidditch team practice from their dorm window. On this particular morning it was rather cold, as snow had fallen the night before, and Toris had to work harder than usual to wake Feliks up.

"Feliks! Wake up! Slytherin's out there practicing, and I think I can recognise the Keeper! They were trying to keep them hidden until the match but there's only one person I know with hair that light."

Feliks groaned and muttered in his sleep, rolling over and pulling the blankets over his mouth and nose. "It's freezing, Toris, wait until later..."

Toris sighed exasperatedly. "Come  _ on!  _ They're not going to wait for us!" He grabbed Feliks's blanket and gave a threatening tug.

Feliks swatted at him and sat up slowly, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What time is it, exactly?"

Toris shrugged. "But get up, I'll put some blankets in front of the window so it won't be that cold."

Grunting, Feliks jumped off his bed and stretched, reaching his small arms into the air. Then he went and sat down next to Toris, who had already returned to the window with his blue comforter and crawled underneath the blanket, sticking his head out to watch.

The Slytherins were playing nicely, and among the figures on brooms Toris could see the light-coloured hair of the Keeper. As Feliks saw him, his eyes widened slightly. 

"Is that-"

"Ivan? I think so. He's so pale he looks like he's shinning."

Feliks gave a snort and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, making Toris sit closer to him in order to stay warm.

"Ha! That was a stupid pass. Anyone could have blocked that." Feliks said, commenting on a dark-haired Slytherin who had just passed to another. Toris smiled. This is what he loved about watching practice with Feliks- he was so adept in flight technique that it wasn't even funny.

"What's that guy doing?" Toris asked, pointing to a Slytherin diving repeatedly to the ground and pulling up at the last second. Feliks stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing. It took him a while to calm down enough to speak.

"He's practicing a Wronski Feint, but not very well. He could get three more inches closer to the ground and  _ guarantee _ that his opponent would hit the ground. God, if Joséf was here..."

Toris glanced over at him. "Do you like being related to him? Joséf Wronski?"

Feliks's smile faded. "Kind of. He's an awesome cousin, we used to hang out and race all the time. But he's been busy. And he's really good, so sometimes it makes me feel really bad about being related to him."

"But you're amazing!" Toris exclaimed, swivelling his knees to face Feliks. And Feliks was good. Toris had seen him knock the teacher off her broom several times simply because of his skill in unbalancing. Even though Feliks was unusually small, he seemed to know exactly how to maneuver himself through the air no matter the conditions.

Feliks shrugged. "I'm not  _ that  _ good. Alt least not by family's standards."

Toris found that hard to believe. "Feliks, you're eleven. And you're not Joséf Wronski. Nobody expects you to be him."

Feliks laughed. "Yeah, they do."

As Toris opened his mouth to retaliate, they heard a groan from the other bed. "Oh, shut  _ up,  _ Feliks. We all know you could get into Polish National if you were a little taller."

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

It was the night before Christmas break began when Toris was awoken by someone shaking his shoulders. "Toris, wake up! Come on, you do this all the time, I'm allowed!"

Toris bilked himself awake. "Not at-" he glanced at the window- outside was pitch black. "-at three in the morning."

Feliks put his hands on his hips. "It's not three. It's four. Now get up! I want to show you something!"

Toris followed his friend sleepily to the door, but stopped when Feliks made a move to open it. "What?" Feliks inquired.

"It's four in the morning."

Feliks sighed. "Toris, it's our  _ common room. _ It's still technically in the tower, it's not like we're breaking rules or anything." He pushed open the door quietly, mindful of the room's other inhabitants.

"Why were you even up?" Toris asked as they made their way down the stairs, Feliks muttering 'Lumos' and leading the way. 

"Couldn't sleep. I wanted to write my parents something, they're visiting my Aunt in Poland and they're on Polish time."

Before Toris could ask any more they had reached the bottom of the stairs and into the common room. Across the room, there was a small table where a candle had burned down to nearly nothing, and sitting on the table was a bedraggled and frozen owl, shivering near the flame. It had a letter next to it open on the table.

Feliks smiled. “I was gonna stay up all night to be ready for the Owlrey to open, but then this came in.” He gestured at the owl, whom Toris took pity on and made a small, greenish fire which he put on the table next to the bird, who ruffled its feathers warmly.

Feliks picked up the letter showed Toris, grinning. Toris looked at the paper, puzzled for a moment, before Feliks turned it slightly to face him, then muttered ‘Oh!’ and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I forgot they don’t write in english.”

“My mum uses Lithuanian sometimes, it’s okay.” Toris muttered.

“Dear Feliks,” Feliks read, his accent becoming less british and more slavic as he mentally translated his native language to english. “Your father and I- that’s my mum, Toris! Her name’s Elenora, and my dad Tomasz- wanted to know how you’ve been doing, and if you’d like to transfer to Czocha School- that’s the Polish wizarding school, it’s incredibly boring, I assure you- blah blah blah…” He scanned to the bottom of the page, and then started again. “... And we’re pleased to tell you that while visiting your aunt, Joséf let us know that he has been accepted into the Polish National Team, which is slated to play against Jordan- they just lost to Malta last week, so they might stand a chance- in two years! If the team gets in, he’ll get extra tickets, so that means we’ll get to go to the next world cup! Isn’t that awesome!” Feliks finished, his eyes sparkling. Toris was stunned. “You’re going to the World cup?”

Feliks nodded, eyes wide. “Aaaand, we usually get extras when Joséf plays… So I guess, what I’m trying to say is… Do you want to come? If he gets in?”

Toris looked up at him, shocked. “W-what?”

Feliks glanced down at the letter, biting his lip. “Do you want to? It’s fine if you don’t-”

“You’d like to take me? I’m muggle born, I’ve never even seen a real match-”

“The Hogwarts matches are real enough.”

“But you’d like me to come?”

Feliks nodded. “I’d love you to come.”

Toris looked at him bewilderedly. “I-I’d love to go.”

There was a rustling at the stairway, and both of them turned to see Emil standing there, looking very annoyed. “Good, now you have that settled, get back to sleep or the ride on the Hogwarts Express is going to be pure hell for all of us.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact- I think this was written before we knew that there were no wizarding schools in Poland. Also, Czocha is named after the castle where the College of Wizardry larp took place in 2016.


	7. Chapter 7

Toris was very sorry to say goodbye to Feliks when they arrived at the platform, but he was also excited to tell his family all about his first few months as a student in Hogwarts. He invited his friend to go meet his family. Toris saw his parent's heads over the other students and squeaked excitedly "Look, Feliks! It's my mum, Ašuna and my stepdad, Kalju! They're both doctors and they'd love to meet you, honestly!"

Feliks looked slightly panicked. "I-uh, my parents will be waiting for me, I don't think I can go, sorry."

"But they're right over there!" Toris said, puzzled. Was Feliks scared of his parents?

"I-I'm sorry. I'll see you soon. Write me an owl, okay?" Feliks stuttered.

Just as Toris was about to reply, perhaps to argue that his brothers could be at the platform too, when Feliks pressed his face into Toris's collarbone.

He was there a long moment, and Toris was too shocked to react, and when he finnaly regained his ability to comprehend, Feliks pushed off and was gone into the crowd.

A few seconds later Toris was almost knocked off his feet by the force of two people crashing into him.

"Toris! It's me! Toris!" A little boy with lightish brown hair not unlike Toris's hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe. A boy a little taller with stark blond hair and glasses hugged him as well, although a little less forcefully. Toris laughed, putting the memory of Feliks's uncertainty to the back of his mind, and embraced his brothers.

"Raivis! Eduard! How are you?!" Toris said, ruffling Raivis's hair and smiling at Eduard. 

Eduard shrugged. "Been better."

"We missed you!" Raivis said, hugging Toris again. "Eduard's jealous he has to wait a year before he can get into Hogwarts."

Eduard punched Raivis lightly in the shoulder, muttering 'am not' while Raivis responded 'uh huh' and they started playfully fighting with each other.

Toris couldn't bring himself to be bothered by anything at the moment, he was too busy being with his brothers.

That when their parents came over to him.

Ašuna looked like Toris, with her long, dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She was tall and curvy, elegant and sharp featured. She wasn’t extremely skinny like her sons- that was their father’s genes- on the contrary, she was broad shouldered and powerfully built, a product of her career as a former military doctor. She had met Darius, Toris’s father, when she had lived in Lithuania, but they had broken up when she moved to England. By the time Toris was born, in England, both of them had moved on and were not interested in getting married. While working in Estonia barely a month after, Ašuna met Kalju von Bock, a half-estonian, half-latvian doctor just starting out. Kalju was shorter, skinny, and stringy. They got married about three months later, but Ašuna kept her last name, Lorinaitis, and Eduard was born nine months later. Raivis took his grandfather Galante’s last name because he looked so much like him. Toris knew his father, as Ašuna and Darius were great friends, but he still lived in Lithuania, so Toris only saw him on the holidays.

“Zuikuti!” Ašuna exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her oldest son. Toris liked this contact with his mother- Eduard despised it. Kalju hugged his stepson as well and they all started to walk to where they could get his trunk.

“Did you make any friends, Toris?” Ravis asked again, bouncing along next to him. Toris looked at him incredulously. “Of course. I know a boy named Feliks whose Polish and-”

He stopped as he saw Natalya trailing her siblings, and he smiled at her. She caught his eye for a second, glanced at Ivan, and hurried on.

“What’s your girlfriend’s name?” Eduard asked, following his eyes. Toris turned red. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Raivis gasped. He was the one in the family who loved romance novels, true love, and sappy chick flicks. “Oh my gosh, you two are gonna grow up and get married- I wonder if there’s someone who would fight with you for her-”

“I don’t like her!” Toris shot, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. He had never really had friends before, so he had never been teased like this. Was this what it was like, having friends that were girls? “We’re just friends. Her name is Natalya and we met on the train.” 

“Where’s she from? Looks slavic.” Said Ašuna, gazing over their heads to the family.

“Russia,” Toris said. “She had a novel on the train. I’d never read it, but it looked good.”

They left the platform, Eduard and Raivis still talking together about the new development with their older brother’s romantic status, reminding Toris rather painfully of his previous role in the family- the quiet older brother who spent more time in his room, reading, while his brothers hung out with other people and had friends- it’s not like Toris had minded it all that much- he was an introvert, and lots of people tired him out. But he didn’t like being separated from  _ everyone _ .

As soon as Toris got home, he disappeared into his room, like he used to, his mother yelling up to him that they were going out for Italian later, and threw himself onto his neatly kept bed, pulling a pillow over his face. Now that he was home and his brothers had somehow managed to ruin his good mood- intentionally or not- all the memories he’d been trying to push away came back. First, his friendship with Natalya. Did people really see it like that? Did  _ Feliks _ see it like that? What about her brother? Toris didn’t want to mess with him any more than he had to, because he looked dangerous. And, because of this, his thoughts drifted back to Feliks.

Why was he afraid to see Toris’s parents? Why was he so shy asking him about the Quidditch cup? Why  _ did _ he ask Toris to come with him to the Quidditch cup? Toris growled- Why hadn’t he asked Feliciano, his Italian friend? He’d known Feliciano for his entire life. Why was he even friends with Toris?

Why did Toris care?

That was simple. Toris had never had a friend before. But shouldn’t he be grateful that Feliks cared? Why couldn’t he be like every other kid, who only hung out with someone because they were famous and be grateful that now he had connections with the greatest Quidditch family in Europe?

There was the slight creak of Toris’s door opening, as it always had since he was little and they moved to England. Kalju always joked about fixing it, but they never did. Secretly, Toris found this comforting- he liked hearing it squeak when it opened. He didn’t look up, but he felt the bed dip with someone’s weight as they sat down.

“Hey, are you okay, zuikuti?” Ašuna was in his room. According to Eduard, she wasn’t like other mothers were. She talked to her kids like they were adults, while also understanding of their ages. She let her kids call her by her name, but Toris still called her ‘Mum’ or ‘Motina’ out of respect. And she talked with them about anything they wanted to.

Toris also appreciated that his brothers or his stepfather didn’t speak Lithuanian, so he and his mother could have conversations entirely in the language (with exceptions of when Toris forget some words, which was often, because he never spoke it much.

“Fine,” Toris said, switching to Lithuanian. He didn’t even understand his own feelings, so he didn’t want anyone else to overhear.

Ašuna snorted. “No you’re not. You’re my son, Toris. I can tell when you’re upset.” She said, following suit.

Toris sighed and pulled the pillow tighter over his face. “I don’t  _ know _ .” 

“Is it that girl?”

Toris tossed the pillow aside. “I do  _ not  _ like her!”

Ašuna looked him in the eyes. “I never said you did. You said she was your friend.”

Toris rolled his eyes. “Nobody thinks that, apparently.”

Ašuna shrugged her shoulders. “So?”

Toris lay back on the bed. “It’s not that simple. I think her siblings think I like her that way, and now she won’t talk to me. She was my first friend at Hogwarts, but we hardly talk anymore. I talk to her a little bit in snippets in the halls, and at the breakfast tables, but she avoids me.”

Ašuna looked at the ground, playing with the ends of her hair. “She’s uncomfortable. Like you are. I would be if I were you- you both seem to be kind of the loner type, that’s why you’re friends. And suddenly you’re both presented with the opportunity to be friends, and you aren’t ready for the stuff that comes with it. It’ll be okay, Toris. You’re a strong kid.” She ruffled his hair.

Toris sighed again. “There’s another problem.” When his mother raised an eyebrow, he continued. “I have a friend at school named Feliks. He’s very wealthy, and has a bunch of friends because he comes from a wizard family, but for some reason he hangs out with me. And I think there’s something wrong with him- he’s tiny, I can see all of his ribs when I look at him, and he was afraid of talking to Natalya when he first met her, and he was afraid of talking to you. I don’t know why and it bothers me.”

“That makes sense. Being friends with someone like that- he sounds like a great kid- it must be daunting. But has it ever occurred to you that you’re a likeable person? You listen well, and if he freaks out about meeting new people, that’s the kind of friend people like that like. It’s a friend most people like, really. You spend a lot of time for him, and people like to be favoured. Come on. And some boys, especially polish kids, might I add, are very short compared to some of us northerners. He’s fine, i’m sure.”

Toris sat up, and hugged his mother tightly. 

“Darius is coming later.” Ašuna said suddenly.

Toris looked up at her. “He’s going to dinner with us. He wasn’t able to come when you went to the platform, you know how busy he can be. But he tried to come.” She continued. Then, she looked down at her son. “Do you find it weird that we were never married? Or that we’re still friends even though I’ve married someone else and have two other sons…”

Toris shook his head. “Of course not. He’s my dad, and you’re my mom. He has a boyfriend and you have a husband. It doesn’t matter if you’re married or not- you’re still my parents, and that’s all I care about.”

She rolled her eyes and hugged him again. “Why aren’t you a scholar yet?”

Dairius didn't arrive at the restaurant until dinner was almost halfway over, because his flight had been delayed over an hour. Ašuna hugged him and then he looked over at Toris, who stood there, dumbfounded for a few seconds, before running up to his father and throwing himself into his arms.

"Toris!" Dairius said, smiling and ruffling his son's hair. He, like Ašuna, had a thick accent, although he had lived in Lithuania his entire life, unlike her. His English was terrible, but he knew enough to be able to converse with his son. He turned to Ašuna and began to chat with her in Lithuanian, and Toris was soon left behind in his lack of understanding. Kalju looked slightly uncomfortable at their interaction, but he was used to it. Eduard and Raivis became their polite selves that they usually only assumed with strangers.

Toris hardly talked with his father while they were at the restaurant, as he was rather tired and didn't feel like explaining all that had happened to him since last time he saw Darius. He spent most of his time eating what remained of his food and trying not to fall asleep, for he suddenly found that he was extremely tired, having taken the Hogwarts express that morning.

With the though of Hogwarts in his mind, Toris reached into the pocket of his jeans and ran his finger down the length of his wand. Having it with him comforted him, because it reminded him of the only place where he really had friends.

And his thoughts returned to Feliks and Natalya.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Christmas approached quickly, and yet despite the festivities that were taking place at the house, Toris couldn't put his friends out of his mind. They were both Purebloods, so they were undoubtedly spending their holidays with their families in the most magical possible ways, even- Toris felt angry even at the thought, but then was upset for it- together. Even though Feliks and Natalya were only friends because of Toris, they got along well enough together without him. A tiny part of him which he hated very much yearned for the Łukasiewiczs and the Braginskys to still hate each other.

Of course, Raivis and Eduard ignored him (as much as they could during the holiday season) and Toris spent the time in his room, reading a Lithuanian copy of Thirteen Reasons Why (making translations in the margins, like Natalya had done) and hugging his pillow and staring at the ceiling. As much as he liked having his father at home, he missed Feliks and Natalya, and was still troubled as to their actions the day on the train. On Christmas Day, Toris awoke abruptly from a dream involving Ivan, one of Raivis's crappy romance novels, and Feliks screaming at him about the correct pronunciation of his last name. It disturbed him all throughout the day.

New Year's came and went, and soon it was time for Toris to leave for Hogwarts again. Waving goodbye to his family (rather gratefully), he climbed onto the train and tried to find the lone compartment where he and Natalya had sat on the way to Hogwarts the first day.

She was in there, but not alone.

He failed to realise this until he had burst through the sliding door into the compartment, smiling like a dog. He had been so excited to see her, because he hadn't seen his friends for two weeks.

Ivan was sitting across from Natalya, speaking to her in Russian (Toris could pick up a few words here and there), but he looked up suddenly when he heard Toris. His big eyes widened slightly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Natalya looking alarmed and quickly turning away.

Ivan looked over at his sister, and his lips curved into a smile. Natalya began to blush, standing out plainly on her pale skin. At this, Ivan gave a little giggle.

“Ah! So, Toris, I meet you again! Natalya denies it, but I have suspected since that one day I ran into you in the great hall- Toris, do you like my sister?”

Toris choked a little, sputtering on his words. “I-no, of course not, I mean, uh-” Toris tried to convince Ivan that he and Natalya were nothing but friends, his mother’s words coming back to him. Of course, Ivan to his lack of confidence as a confirmation of his suspicions and clapped his hands together.

“Oh, that is good, Natalya! I didn’t know you would go for this type, he is very weak-looking, I always thought that you would have ended up going out with Valslav, you know that Ukrainian wizard back at home, but I guess-”

“I don’t like him, Ivan!” Natalya said, standing up and whipping her robe around her. Then, she stalked up to Toris, her face completely emotionless, and she reached up with her hand and slapped him.

Time stood still.

Toris couldn’t tell how much time had passed until the door to the compartment was yanked open, and there was Feliks,  _ Feliks _ (as if this couldn’t get any better), and suddenly he felt his eyes become blurry and he pushed past Feliks and was out in the corridor and halfway down the length of the train before he felt the tears spill over and he slid down the wall with his head in his hands.

Natalya had slapped him. She hated him for what her stupid brother had said about them, and the only way she could think of remedying it was to be horrible to Toris. And then Feliks had seen it. He had seen Toris being treated like dirt by a person he had only known as Toris’s friend. And now Toris was crying,  _ crying _ , on the floor of the train, adding insult to his pain.

It felt like forever before he felt a soft touch on his shoulder and he started, causing whatever had touched him to shy away. He heard someone sit down next to him and he looked up, sniffing. Feliks was there, looking as he had the day Toris had run into Ivan- unsure of what to do or say, but wanting desperately to.

“S-sorry, I must look a mess.” Toris said, rubbing his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket (He had not changed into his robes yet). Feliks shook his head slightly. “You don’t need to be sorry.”

A few seconds of quiet silence passed before Feliks spoke again.

“What happened in there?” After he realised what he had said, he quickly backtracked. “I-I mean, you don’t have to tell me.’

Toris shook his head. “It’s okay.” He sniffed again. “Ivan said I liked Natalya, and she freaked out and hit me. It’s just- she was my closest friend here, and it doesn’t matter to her-” He sobbed again, and quickly tried to regain himself. To his surprise, Feliks reached around his shoulder and hugged him. He stiffened for a second, but soon relaxed into Feliks and began to cry all over again.

They were there for a long time, and Toris eventually stopped crying and just sat there, snow hissing down outside of the window. Feliks sensed this and brushed a strand of wet hair out of his face. “Better?”

Toris nodded. “Yeah.” Then he gave a nervous laugh. “I guess you probably think I’m weak now, or something.”

Feliks shook his head. “No, I get it. Well, kind of. Sometimes it’s just easier to cry until you don’t need to cry anymore. I haven’t had many friends, so I don’t know what It must feel like, but she was like, really rude.”

“I don’t think she meant it. I mean, I was uncomfortable, too.” Toris said, making a move to stand up. Feliks followed him, and he gave him a dopey smile.

“Come on, I have some stuff for your face in my bag, and Feliciano is probably with Ludwig and Kiku in their compartment, so nobody will see you. And you need to change into your robes.” He looked at the jacket. “And If I were you, I’d burn that.”

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I wrote, so it's quite unfinished, but I figured I'd publish it here. If I ever return to this, I'll delete this chapter and put the whole thing in. Thanks for reading!

The months passed, and exams were soon looming over them. Toris wasn’t worried, because he was always decent with his homework and tests didn’t bother him much. But Feliks was freaking out.

“If I don’t get the highest score in the class or something stupid like that, my parents will make me go to Czocha or something stupid like that.” He said, furiously looking over Toris's homework, trying to take in everything at once. It wasn't as if Feliks wasn't a good student- he was just a little slow when it came to understanding and magic wasn't as interesting to him as it was to Toris, who had been raised muggle born. He also didn't like writing very much, because he had always learned to hold his quill wrong, and it hurt his hand to write for too long.

But he was good in other things, like Herbology and Quidditch. Those weren't as important in the exam's opinion, but Toris valued it. He liked having a friend that could show him his passions without fear.

And he was better than most teachers in Quidditch.

  
  



End file.
